


The Beast Within 19/?

by iantosgal (orphan_account)



Series: The Beast Within [19]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Timelines, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 07:37:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/iantosgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is back from his time with the Doctor and his team are keeping something from him, but what? Set after KKBB.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beast Within 19/?

“I didn’t catch your name,” Copley said, as if it was a formal occasion and Ianto wasn’t stood there in nothing but a pair of scrub trousers whilst his friend was strapped down to an operating table. 

When Ianto didn’t reply, Copley sighed. 

“My name is Aaron Copley. But you already know that.” He motioned towards the woman. “This is my associate Catherine Plummer. Now you know us, it’s only polite to tell us your name.”

Ianto remained silent and stony faced. 

“That’s a pity,” Copley said with a sad shake of his head. “We took the liberty of running a few tests while you were indisposed and I must say I have never seen a genetic make-up quite like yours. I fan a few tests on your friend as well and the two of you seem to be quite unique in your own ways.”

He looked Ianto right in the eye and Ianto couldn’t help but swallow at the coldness there. 

“I think the two of you could greatly help our research. You may provide us with the answer to Reset. Do you know what lymphocytes are?”

Ianto shook his head. 

“They’re a type of white blood cell, part of the immune system and your friends are really quite extraordinary. We've never seen anything like them before, not in a human being. Aliens are a different matter. But then you are quite familiar with aliens aren’t you? Working for Torchwood must make all this seem a bit mundane.”

Ianto blinked and cursed inwardly as Copley saw the action and smiled. 

“Her lymphocytes and God knows what other cells have mutated,” Plummer said. 

“Mutated how?” Ianto asked, finally breaking his silence. 

“Under the influence of radiation. Radiation that's not found in the temporally stable environments on Earth,” Copley replied. “We've dealt with aliens before, but we have never come across  
anything as exotic as you. A human being who's travelled in time and space. Truly remarkable. And then there’s you. A werewolf.”

Ianto bristled at the man’s tone but said nothing. 

“Your test results truly are a fascinating read. Your cell structure is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The rate of rejuvenation they have is truly outstanding.”

“What do you mean?” Ianto asked, guardedly. 

“Come now. You regularly change from a man to a wolf and back again. I imagine the pain is excruciating. Your body is changed at a cellular level and then revert back to their human form. Imagine what we could do if we combined your cell structure with the mayfly. Work out a few kinks and we could actually make the drug work.”

“I doubt that. Those kinks are pretty big,” Ianto retorted. 

“We could cure you. We could stop the wolf.”

Ianto tried to push the feeling of hope done. The man was insane, he’d had people killed and tortured aliens in the name of science. 

“No.”

Copley looked shocked at his answer. 

“You don’t want to be free of your condition?”

“I’m not an idiot. There are no guarantees and I’m sure as hell not becoming some twisted lab experiment.”

Martha moaned on the table and Ianto noticed the sweat that coated her body. He took in the IV bags and met Plummer’s eye. She looked away and Ianto felt a chill. 

“What have you done to her?”

“We’ve given her twice the critical dose. The larvae are incubating.”

Where the fuck was Jack? Ianto thought as he rushed to Martha’s side. 

“She’s fine,” Plummer said, but Ianto could tell she didn’t believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. 

He turned to face Copley and snarled but the snarl morphed into a whimper as Copley pressed a taser into his chest. He stumbled backwards and crashed to the ground, taking out a tray of medical equipment with him as he fell. He saw Copley pick up a syringe from the side and crouch down beside Ianto. He pushed the needle carefully into Ianto’s arm. 

For the second time that night, Ianto blacked out.

***

He woke up where he had landed. Copley was calmly changing Martha’s IV bag and Plummer was nowhere to be seen. 

He tried to stand but his limbs wouldn’t obey him. He groaned at the effort and let himself flop back. 

“I said you recover quickly,” Copley said without looking at him. “Midazolam normally knocks people out for at least an hour. Fifteen minutes is unheard of.”

Ianto glanced around blearily and realised there was a plaster covering the crook of his elbow. 

“What did you do to me?” 

“We didn’t do anything to you. We took some more samples of your blood that’s all. Just in case we couldn’t get you to cooperate.”

“No,” Ianto mumbled. “No, you can’t.”

“Oh stop. We are trying to benefit mankind and you people act as if we are the monsters.”

 

Ianto gave a snort of derision. 

“We aren’t the monsters. You are. Torchwood. You keep the truth from the world, you hide what you find, things that could benefit mankind. You hold the human race back whilst you claim to save it.” Copley crouched beside him. “You make me sick.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Jack said. He stood in the open door way, gun trained on Copley. “On your feet, hands above your head.”

Copley complied and Owen fan past Jack to Martha. 

“Tell me that’s not Reset,” Owen said, pointing at the IV bags hooked up to Martha. 

“She's survived the larval stage, the only subject ever to do so. Fascinating. Turns out these bugs practice sibling cannibalism. Only the strongest individual is left now. God knows what happens next.” 

Gwen was at Ianto’s side helping him to his feet. 

“Stop this,” Owen said. 

“I can’t I don’t know how.”

Jack shook his head in disgust. 

“Tosh, go for total shutdown,” he said into his earpiece. “This place is a torture chamber. You abused the Mayflies, you turned them into parasites and when things didn’t go the way you planned you had innocent people killed.”

“They were going to die anyway. We're on the edge of the greatest discovery in history. It’s gotta be worth a few sacrifices!”

Owen was working frantically around Martha. He breathing was becoming laboured, she was coated in a sheen of sweat and as Ianto watched her stomach began to ripple as if something was moving inside. 

“I’m shutting this place down,” Jack said, keeping his eyes carefully trained on Copley and away from Martha and Ianto. 

“In your dreams. This is a state of the art, official facility.”

“Oh, I'm not going to do it by sending a memo. We're in control of your IT systems. As we speak, we're crashing your data banks, wiping your records.”

“That’s cyber terrorism!”

“And that's just for starters. We're going to trip the systems of your fire,  
radiation and biohazard safety networks.” As Jack spoke, Owen pulled the singularity scalpel out of his backpack. “The power will cut, sprinklers will be activated, and a large part of this facility will be sealed and flooded with inert gases.”

“The aliens will die.”

“They’re already dying,” Gwen shouted. “At least this way we can end their suffering.”

“For God’s sake! We’re on the same side.”

“No, combating hostile aliens is one thing. What you’re doing is slavery, exploitation, a war crime!” 

“I could use some help here,” Owen said. 

Jack rushed forward and held Martha’s shoulders down. Ianto pushed Gwen away and she held Martha’s feet, Ianto hovering in the background, a hand on the wall holding him steady. He could feel his strength slowly rebuilding. He just needed a minute. 

“What the hell are you doing to her!?” Jack asked, incredulously, as he realised Owen was holding the singularity scalpel in his hands. 

“I think I know how it works.”

“You though you knew how it worked before,” Gwen said.

“Look, it’s the only thing that can save Martha. I can do this.”

“You better be right,” Jack said, quietly. 

“We’re losing her!” Gwen shouted as the machines began to beep in earnest. 

“Almost got it,” Owen said. 

“Owen!”

Owen pressed the button on the scalpel and Martha arches with a strangled cry. She flops down on the bed with a shuddering sigh. Ianto’s eye flies to the monitor which shows Martha has flatlined. The room is silent and Ianto holds his breath and then, suddenly, Martha coughs and the monitor starts beeping steadily again. He lets himself relax into the wall, eyes closed for a second. 

“Oh bloody hell, it worked,” Owen said. “Thank God for that.”

When Ianto opens his eyes again, Copley is gone. 

“Where did he go?” he said, surging forward and stumbling at the drug still in his system. Jack’s arm wrapped around his waist and held him steady. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Jack says. 

Owen and Gwen help Martha to her feet and they make their way out of the Pharm. Tosh is stood at the back of the SUV, laptop on and ready to go. 

“Do it,” Jack says. 

She presses a few buttons and starts the programme. The air is filled with evacuation orders and warning alarms. Lights flicker out in the buildings and Ianto knows that as they stand there, files are being erased, gas is filling rooms and aliens are being provided with a way out of their captivity. 

They are almost at the SUV when a voice from the entrance to the Pharm call out to them. 

“Did you really think I was just going to let you walk away?” Copley demanded, he held a gun in his hand and it was aimed right at Martha. “You’ve ruined everything I’ve worked for.”

Gwen quickly draws her gun and stand slightly in front of Martha. Owen lets go of Martha, taking a step forward so that between them, he and Gwen are shielding Martha, and holds out his hands in a placating gesture. 

“Let’s not be stupid, ok?” he said. “We’re both rational men, scientists.” He took another step forward. “I know you don’t want to shoot.”

Ianto read Copley’s movements, knew what was about to happen and launched himself forward. He wasn’t as fast as he would have liked to have been, the drug still in his system. He didn’t have time to pull Owen out of the way, didn’t have time to get Martha and Gwen to safety as well. 

So he did the only thing he could. He threw himself in front of Owen just as a gunshot echoed through the air. He stumbled as the bullet tore through his chest, heard Jack scream out his name. A number of answering shots are fired and dimly Ianto sees Copley fall backwards, a bullet between his eyes, at the same time as Ianto himself sinks to his knees and then tumbles to the ground. 

“Ianto stay with me. Ianto. Ianto, look at me, look at me. Ianto, look right at me.” Owen is crouched over him, hands flying over to the wound, pressing down. “Stay with me, Ianto, stay with me. Stay with me, buddy. Come on. Come on.”

He can’t breathe. He can feel blood in his lungs and it chokes him. He coughs and feels blood coat his lips. Jack is saying his name over and over again, cradling Ianto’s head in his lap. Martha is working with Owen, trying to save him. 

He closes his eyes but someone shakes him. Open your eyes, Yan, stay with me, they demand but Ianto can’t tell whose voice it is anymore. Everything sounds so far away and it hurts, fuck does it hurt. 

He closes his eyes again, ignores whoever is shaking him and lets the sweet, painless oblivion take him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry about the cliffhanger...oh wait. No, I'm not :P Mwhahaha!


End file.
